We’ve really been enjoying the surprise reemergence of Sun Airway this year. Local musician Jon Barthmus started sharing new material from the electro-pop project in early December with “FOAM,” a kaleidoscopic sound collage that is filled with earworm melodies to latch on to. Two more singles followed, and today Barthmus’ third LP Heraldic Black Cherry gets its digital release.

The record expands the three singles to a tracklist of 15 orchestral, lush songs and interludes, a vivid and intricate tapestry of sound bits that must have truly been a labor of love. About the record Jon writes:

dear world, i give you Heraldic Black Cherry. i spent a lot of time over the last 4 years fussing over the details, chopping up a billion samples, writing and re-writing, and re-writing and re-writing lyrics, constructing massive orchestras and stripping things down where I could. these songs mean a lot to me. making music has always given me some peace, even when that can be hard to come by, so I hope you can find some here too, even if just for a moment.

Earlier this week Sun Airway welcomed the new year with a new song, taken from the forthcoming Heraldic Black Cherry LP that we expect to hear in full later this year. “All In” is the second track Jon Barthmus has shared since returning from a four year musical hiatus and features local singer-songwriter Cynthia G Mason on vocals.

If lead single “FOAM” pulled back on the prismatic sonic collages that spun previous outputs Soft Fall and Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier into sparkling whirlwinds of textures and colors in favor of a more focused pop vision, “All In” reaches back to the multimedia layers of those earlier works. A rustling of static carries in the saturated tropi-synths that buoy Barthmus and Mason’s dreamy duet. There’s a sprinking of bright distortion here, a 3D, technicolor scale slide there, and pieces of sounds that feel like snippets of larger, totally different projects floating throughout.

Things have been quiet from Philly electropop project Sun Airway since the promo run wrapped up on their 2012 outing Soft Fall. Mastermind Jon Barthmus has been steadily tinkering away in the downtime, however, and today came to us with the first new music from the band in four years.

“FOAM,” which you can listen to below, is distinctively Sun Airway. Like the band’s best work, it’s built around Barthmus’ trademark straddling of graceful pop melodies and and expansive sound collages. But it’s also a noticeable progression; the band’s 2010 debut Nocturne of Exploded Crystal Chandelier was a supernova of sound; Soft Fall eased down the vibe and eased up the beats. This time, the focus has tightened even more — the hazy walls of psychedelic sound are further broken down and opened up.

You’ll still hear a blissed-out ambient undercurrent, make no mistake, and an elegant string section comes through on the song’s second half. But it seems that Barthmus is putting his pop foot forward on this song, built around the infectious hook “I never sleep, it’s never in a dream, it’s never gonna meet the end / ’cause I fall for it all, I fall for it all again.”

Give a listen to “FOAM” below; it will be on the album Heraldic Black Cherry, which Barthmus expects to self-release sometime early next year. For the moment, he’s looking at Sun Airway as purely a studio project — but even if gigs aren’t in the crds, we’re stoked to hear what else it has in store.

]]>Nightlands bring magic harmonies to Kung Fu Necktie (review, setlist, photos)http://thekey.xpn.org/2013/01/28/nightlands-bring-magic-harmonies-to-kung-fu-necktie-review-setlist-photos/
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Standing front and center for Nightlands’ performance Saturday night at Kung Fu Necktie felt like standing in the entranceway of a grand cathedral, a choir’s golden melodies wafting through the air. It was a transportive, although not unexpected experience—when I spoke to front man/creator Dave Hartley about Nightlands’ live show a few weeks back, he told me he would focus mostly on the vocals. “I want to get some people who sing really well, and we’ll just sing together,” he said.

Said “people who sing well” were of Eliza Jones (of Buried Beds) and Jesse Moore (of Auctioneer/Ladies Auxiliary), who together with Hartley added heart and corporeality to songs which on record, twinkle with space-age mystery—while drummer Michael Johnson’s (Ape School) beats added velocity and momentum. The band’s 45-minute set drew from both new record Oak Island and earlier releases, and included covers of Fleetwood Mac’s “That’s All for Everyone” (Jones singing perfect counterpart) and Albert Hammond’s “99 Miles from LA. ”

Opener “Time and Place,” which also opens Oak Island, was a welcoming swarm of warm harmonies and Hartley’s taped-up guitar picking, easing in to a rolling road beat—while closer “300 Clouds,” off 2010’s Forget the Mantra, was equally alluring, with harmonies that grew and contracted like a bloom. But it was new single “So Far So Long” that proved a personal fave, the wiggly beat and drawn- out vocals luring the crowd into a hazy slow groove. If this is Nightlands, let us never leave.

Setlist
Time and Place
So It Goes
Slowtrain
Other People’s Pockets
That’s All for Everyone (Fleetwood Mac cover)
All the Way
So Far So Long
Born to Love
99 Miles from LA (Albert Hammond cover)
300 Clouds

The early part of the night saw offerings from Ape School’s Scott Churchman (joined by other members of Ape School) and Sun Airway’s Jon Barthmus. Both sets proved visceral and moody, as Churchman wove haunted melodies (incorporating the rare musical saw)—and Barthmus contributed live guitar and vocals to Sun Airway faves, the solo setting allowing for spontaneous, off-the-cuff delivery. A welcome treat indeed!

Glittery pop outfit Sun Airway play Johnny Brenda’s tonight with Historics and Cruiser. On last year’s expansive sophomore release Soft Fall, Sun Airway washed their synths and vocals in the waters of some faraway cascade and dried them in the echo-y halls of a sky-high cathedral, creating an all-together other-worldly aura around the project. Tickets and information for the 21+ show can be found here. Below, watch the video for “Close” and dig deeper into Soft Fall with The Key’s Unlocked series here.

Psych-thrashers Ruby the Hatchet headline tonight at MilkBoy Philly with Attic Dancers. Ruby the Hatchet features the heavy rock ‘n’ roll vocals of Asbury Park native Jillian Taylor surrounded by fuzzy riffs and clashing percussion, most recently captured on 2012’s OUROBOROS. Attic Dancers are a relatively new local trio who released the ear-catching CarrierLP in April of 2012, mixing alt-rock foundations with psych/shoegaze-y layers. Tickets and information for the 21+ show can be found here; below, watch Ruby the Hatchet’s video for “Black Tongue.”

Philly alt-folk five-piece Brethren headlines The Grape Room in Manayunk tonight. The band started out in 2010 making music very much informed by The Avett Brothers, but in the past two years have evolved in more of a refined pop / rock direction. Watch a video of the band recording the new song “Gone A Little Wrong” below, get more information on the show here.